Italian Restaurant Remake
by bholley
Summary: Remake of the Italian Restaurant scene in the first book. Written just after reading the first book. No spoilers. Two versions. Rated T for violence safety . Be gentle; I wrote this when I was 12.
1. Version 1

Holly Short painfully crawled to her feet from beside the wall into which the troll had thrown her. She winced with pain, and with her low magic level, she wasn't healing very quickly. The humans were staring at her. She placed a small silver orb into the middle of the floor and called them to come.

"Watch." She said weakly in their language. She turned around and closed her eyes. A bright flash ensued and mass unconsciousness reigned. The people fell where they stood. The troll was already out. Retrieval was coming soon, and Holly knew that she had at least a few minutes to rest before retrieval – and Commander Root showed up. She let her knees buckle and she slid to the ground and into unconsciousness.

Retrieval, led by Commander Root himself soon arrived. They looked in. The humans all lay unconscious. They were breathing, the squad could tell. The troll was still alive and unconscious too. The stepped through the opening. Root looked around. A piece of LEPrecon uniform material could be seen from between the legs of a table. He walked through the wreckage and gasped. Holly lay unconscious on her side, blood seeping from a slash on her neck. Root knelt beside her limp body and rolled it over. She didn't stir. He shook her lightly. She still didn't move or awaken. He took one of her limp hands by the wrist and took her pulse. It was a very weak. As he let go of her arm, her eyes fluttered open weakly.

Holly thought she could see a bit of concern in Commander Root's eyes as she opened hers. It soon vanished and was replaced by a purple rage. He started yelling at her.

"Short! You were given orders not to attempt retrieval. ORDERS! You weren't invited in either! You idiot!" She winced, hurt by Root's insults as well as his loud shouting.

"They… they called for help…" She gasped, barely loud enough for Root to hear, then she passed out. Root paused for a moment, confused. He suddenly realized what he had done. He gasped and took Holly's pulse again. It was no better, in fact, it was slower and fainter. She wasn't healing either. He guessed that Holly was low on magic, so she could not heal herself. He healed her, blue sparks passing from his hand to her wrist and from there to her various injuries.


	2. Version 2 Longer

Holly Short couldn't move to her feet from beside the wall into which the troll had thrown her. She winced with pain, and with her low magic level, she wasn't healing very quickly. The humans were staring at her. Her body was broken all over and she could barely move. With her last vestiges of strength, she rolled a small silver orb into the middle of the floor and called them to come.

"Watch." She said weakly in their language. She turned her head away and closed her eyes. A bright flash ensued and mass unconsciousness reigned. The people fell where they stood. The troll was already out. Retrieval was coming soon, and Holly knew that if she didn't die from her injuries here, Root would either fire her, or kill her, or possibly both. With these dour thoughts running through her aching head, she went limp, shuddering in pain, and passed into unconsciousness.

Retrieval, led by Commander Root himself soon arrived. They looked in. The humans all lay unconscious. They were breathing, the squad could tell. The troll was still alive and unconscious too. The stepped through the opening. Root looked around. A piece of LEPrecon uniform material could be seen from between the legs of a table. He walked through the wreckage and gasped. Holly lay unconscious on her side, blood seeping from a slash on her neck and more blood quickly darkening the sides of her uniform. Root knelt beside her limp body and rolled it over. She didn't stir. He shook her lightly. She still didn't move or awaken. He took one of her limp hands by the wrist and took her pulse. It was a very weak. As he let go of her arm, her eyes fluttered open weakly.

Holly thought she could see a bit of concern in Commander Root's eyes as she opened hers. It soon vanished and was replaced by a purple rage. He started yelling at her.

"Short! You were given orders not to attempt retrieval. ORDERS! You weren't invited in either! You idiot!" She winced, hurt by Root's insults as well as his loud shouting.

"They… they called for help…" She gasped in agony, barely loud enough for Root to hear, then she passed out from the pain and loss of blood. Root paused for a moment, confused. He suddenly realized what he had done. He gasped and took Holly's pulse again. It was no better, in fact, it was slower and fainter. She wasn't healing either. He guessed that Holly was low on magic, so she could not heal herself. He knew that he could not heal her very well, and that if he tried, he might complicate things by healing her badly.

He radioed for a stretcher and a medic crew. Foaly was on his radio.

"Commander! What's happening? Let me see!" He sounded frantic.

"Holly went in because someone called for help, and she knew she could interpret it as an invitation, so she went in to save human lives. I don't know exactly what happened, but I think the troll threw her into the wall." He said, pointing the video link on his helmet at Holly's limp body. Root heard a gasp on the other end.

"Is it bad?" Foaly finally said.

"I don't know. I haven't tried to heal her, since it might complicate things. Do you have her helmet signs on a computer?"

"No, what's her helmet's number?" Foaly asked. Root gently tilted Holly's helmeted head so that he could see the number stamped under the angle of the jaw on the helmet. He read the number out to Foaly. He typed it in and told Root Holly's vital signs.

"Her pulse is very weak and faint. She's barely breathing, since all of her ribs are cracked at least once. Her pain meter is at the top, but she's unconscious right now, so she isn't feeling any of it. I just got the tape of what happened downloaded. I'll replay it and tell you what happened, then you can see it once you get back." Foaly watched the tape and narrated for Root.

"I started it where she first dove into the building. Oh man, it's chaos in there. The troll is freaking from the light and everyone's frozen, now they start screaming. Holly tries to shield herself. It comes on, but… oh, it's off, but she can't see that. She thinks she's invisible. She zaps the troll with her gun at power 2. It only makes him mad, and he throws a table at her. She ducks, put the propane tank is ripped off her back. It lights in the candles, and it gets all over the troll. Holly falls on him too. He picks her up and… oh, ow. He's squeezing her hard and his claws are digging into her sides." Foaly fell silent and gasped. He made a small noise in his throat. "She's really going fast, from the poison on the claws, but she turns on her tunnel lights and blinds the troll, but he convulsively throws her across the room. She hits the wall and the visuals flicker."

"Ouch. You can hear the snap as she hits. That had to hurt. She goes unconscious for a while, then she wakes up again and everyone's staring at her. She fumbles the knockout bomb from her belt, rolls it across the floor, and says 'watch' in their language. She turns her head and it goes off. The pain and poison really get to her then, and she passes out." Foaly finished. Root was silent for a few seconds, then he replied.

"That's what it was, then." He muttered huskily. He looked at Holly's still body. The slash on her neck was still bleeding, and the slashes in the sides of her uniform were dark with blood from the troll's claws.

The stretcher bearers arrived then, and carefully put Holly's broken body onto the stretcher and carried her out. They sent her back as quickly as possible. The next thing Holly felt was pain. She was too weak to open her eyes, and her abilities didn't stretch to memory. All she could do was breathe shallowly and lie down. She wondered what could have done this to her. Could Root have gone insane on her because she was late? No, she remembered something about a recon mission she had gone on. It was in Italy, she thought. To find something or other. She wondered what it was. She remembered something about a troll. Maybe it was a troll.

It was a troll! She decided as some more memory came back to her. She had tracked a troll, and something had happened. She remembered a cry for help and an Italian restaurant. She must have followed the troll in to stop him. Yes, she did. She remembered hazily something about the troll being able to see her. Her magic must have finally gone. He had seen her and… mauled her? Had the troll mauled her in that Italian restaurant? It would explain the pain and sick poisoned feeling. That must be it, she decided, but where was she now? She didn't have much feeling except for excruciating pain in every part of her battered body.

She groaned softly.

"Holly?" Someone said. Holly knew the soft voice, but in her weakened state, she couldn't place it.

"Holly? You awake?" It said again. She focused her energy in the front of her head and cracked an eye open. She found her friend, Foaly standing over her. He saw her open her eye and smiled at her. She was unable to move at all. She couldn't speak.

"You're back underground, in the hospital, Holly. The troll poisoned and almost killed you." He told her. "You're still poisoned. That's why you can't move. Don't worry; it'll wear off in a while. Just hang in there and rest." He said.

Holly, reassured, closed her eye and drifted into sleep again. When she woke up again, the poison had worn off and someone had healed her some more. She was still weak from the shock and loss of blood, but she was much better than she had been.


End file.
